Galactic Wishes
by Lil Nezumi
Summary: A wish or two is normally harmless, but the crew of the USS Enterprise are shocked by the literal outcome of such wishes, especially in the presence of an unexplained space anomaly that they had yet to figure out or pull away from.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:**Galactic Wishes

**Main****pairing:** Xander/Spike (pre-slash, slash), Kirk/Spock (pre-slash), possibly others

_**MY**__**Inspiration:**_ Buffy the Vampire Slayer (all media forms), Angel the Series (all media forms), Star Trek (every generation), Star Trek 2009

**Disclaimer:** This is my standard disclaimer; I don't own anything in regards to the sources of _**MY**__**Inspiration**_. All publically recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

All the characters, worlds, base concepts or general ideas are just a bit food for the writing bug. This story is pure fiction and is in no way meant to copy or reflect real life, events or people, should this happen then obviously it is pure coincidence.

**Warning:**Yaoi, Shounen-ai, etc… may be present, either detailed or merely mentioned. If you're reading this and it's not you're thing then you've obviously searched for the wrong thing. Hit the back button and leave, no comments/reviews or flames needed regarding this story, unless you honestly like it and have valid criticism. Chat language not accepted and will be ignored.

**Author****'****s****Note:** AU, OOC in some characters, immediately following the episode where Spike comes fully back to his unlife life and mainly set in the "Abrams Universe", but likely excerpts from other generations will appear. This may only be a one shot or it may turn into something slightly epic. Time will tell, depending on what the must whispers in my ears.

**Summary:** A wish or two is normally harmless, but the crew of the USS Enterprise are shocked by the literal outcome of such wishes, especially in the presence of an unexplained space anomaly that they had yet to figure out or pull away from.

**Speech****Legend:**(This is the standard by which I write my stories and therefore you will not see this repeated in future chapters)

"Normal"  
>'<em>Thoughts<em>'  
>(…Other LanguagesMind Speak/Alternate Speech Patterns like sign language…)

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

**Chapter One**

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

Bones looked down disconsolately at the two sleeping babies wrapped around each other. '_How __did __this __happen,_' he thought. '_One __minute __they __were __disagreeing __on __the __bridge, __as __normal __and __suddenly..._'

He sighed, it was claimed by those on the Bridge that Lt. Nyota Uhura had had enough and had said, "I wish you two babies would stop this bickering immediately..."

It was also claimed, by those same crew members, that following that statement a young sounding voice answered by saying, "Wish Granted!"

Two small babies were the result of a flash of light. They had been brought to McCoy for examination, but also for security reasons. Something was happening on the ship and it was something that had tingles of unease running up the Doctor's spine.

Lt. Hikaru Sulu took over, but he was soon receiving strange reports from different sections of the ship, along with a generalized announcement of "Wish Granted!" that had been broadcasted for everyone to hear.

The Lieutenant was quick to issue a ship-wide broadcast stating that, "Until further notice the utterance of generalized _Wishes_ is prohibited. In fact this is the perfect time for a silent running drill. All communications will be non-verbal from here on until we have succeeded in pulling away from the anomaly that we are currently facing. Stations sound off."

"Engineering now running silent," Scotty voice in his throaty Scottish brogue.

"Medical now running silent," Doctor McCoy said with baby babble in the background.

So on for each section of the ship, until Sulu finished the order by staying, "The Command Bridge now running silent."

Silence was relative, but it was a command that the onboard ship's computer would monitor and send regular reports to the Bridge relating any who violated such an order.

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

Three days later they were still within the perimeter of the strange cloudy mass without successfully being released from its proximity. The crew still had a few incidences that occurred where talking was done, but all reports and disciplinary matters would be up to the Captain whenever he regained his natural age, at least the word _Wish_ hadn't been uttered as no more unaccountable phenomena occurred.

The only thing was that one tiny baby half-Vulcan was currently causing the poor Doctor a near mental breakdown, which caused the poor man uttered something he knew he shouldn't have.

"Damnit Spock," he said to the baby that was nearly wrapped from head to toe in order to prevent skin-to-skin contact. The poor mite didn't like being held when what he received from most human contact was frustration and irritation.

It was frustrating in turn for the poor little thing because his mind was still at his actual age and he'd been unable to voice anything. It was only when the two babies cuddled that the little half-Vulcan could calm down in some way because the mind belonging to the man known as James Tiberius Kirk was fascinating. It was like a toy that the Vulcan had never had before.

Spock knew it was wrong to wrap his young mind in that of a human's, but his surprise knew no bounds when the mind he linked to was not entirely human. The mind accepted his curious probing and somehow knew that as an adult this would never have happened because Vulcan pride and culture prevented such a breach in courtesy and privacy.

A baby's mind was different and a Vulcan one would latch onto anything that provided comfort or a link to a feeling of security.

Baby Jim had a secret that was not commonly known to his crew or to Starfleet in general. His Doctor knew because he needed to know, but none of his crew had even cottoned on that he was an empath of some considerable ability. That was an asset that most of the Admiralty didn't know about with the exception of Pike and Archer. Those two knew and those two were ones that advised the young man to keep his secret. It would be advantageous for the young Captain and Kirk never once considered it bad advice.

He had been able to contain his ability for a long time even as a small child, but knowing his First Officer's issues of being too young now, he allowed the baby alien an access that normally would only have been opened family or for a future mate or spouse. He apologized to him for the depth of the connection in the only way he knew how. He helped him to shield away the emotions of others whenever they were in touching proximity.

Spock's frustration was such that he had been irritating the Doctor simply because of his alien physiology. It was obvious to the half-Vulcan that his parents had not been completely forthcoming about the medical dangers he had faced as a babe.

Tears of frustration ran down McCoy's cheeks at his helplessness, he uttered and gently petted the baby Vulcan on his tummy, "I wish that some demon could be found to assist in taking care you... you... you cute little green demon-child hobgoblin you."

McCoy's words were not meant to be harsh in any fashion. He had grown fond of the pointy-eared alien and had grown to be somewhat friends with the young man stuck between two worlds, culture-wise. His comments about being a demon or hobgoblin only came out when he was frustrated beyond a certain point. However he blinked once he realized what he'd just voiced and immediately said, "Oh shit."

"Wish Granted!" That childlike voice said gleefully.

Another flash, only this time it was followed by an animalistic roar and the phrase of, "Where in the bloody hell am I?"

Doctor McCoy looked at the young man with the strange appearance. He was dressed in dark clothing, his face was distorted and he was bleeding from his nose. Ever the doctor he said, "You're bleeding, let me take care of that for you."

"Don't bother," Spike said, pawing the blood from his face and licking it from his fingers. He looked around and then heard the squall of infants crying. His sharps eyes focussed on the baby cot nearby and one look in it told him quite a bit about where he was. "Is that a Vulcan babe?"

"Yes," the Doctor said.

"Bloody hell," Spike whispered again. This time he looked around the room and noted all of the strange electronic equipment. His eyes widened and he stated, "I'm on the effin' Enterprise!"

"Yes," Doctor McCoy said with a yawn, too tired to try to figure out how this person knew where he was or note the surprise in the young man's tone. "I'm terribly sorry, but I haven't had any sleep since this happened to our Captain and First Officer."

Spike looked into the cot again was met with blue eyes too blue to be natural. He shielded his thoughts and emotions completely before taking hold of both the children in his arms. He settled them comfortably and was immediately rewarded by the two of them yawning cutely, turning their faces into his duster and falling immediately to sleep.

McCoy was astonished and awed. "I've been trying to get them to do that for at least three days."

"Your mind wasn't focussed on keeping most of your emotions or thoughts away," Spike said softly. "So why am I on the bloody Enterprise?"

"Um," McCoy said looking away. "I sort of wished for someone to help with Spock."

"Spock... damn," Spike looked back down at the Vulcan baby. "I bloody wish Harris was here, he'd love this shite."

"Wish granted!" The childlike voice said with laughter.

"Ah, hell," Spike said and was near blinded by a flash of light that followed the wish.

"What the..." A tall man, in mid-swing of a medieval axe, stumbled and then paused to take a breath. He looked around the room with his one good eye. He wanted to be excited to suddenly find himself in the medical bay of the USS Enterprise.

"Spike," he said looking confused about why he would be seeing his ex-roommate holding two bundles close to his chest.

"Yeah," Spike said looking at the man he once knew as boy. "You're looking fierce."

"I was in the middle of a battle," Xander said rubbing the irritated skin under his eye patch. "We were winning. I guess the girls will continue to kick their asses because I'm suddenly gone." He put the axe down one of the med-beds and asked the Doctor, "So what's really going on here Dr. McCoy?"

"How do you know my name," the man said with another yawn. His body was shutting down quickly, so Xander guided him to one of the bio-beds in the room.

"Sleep," Xander said. "We'll talk when you wake up. Who's in charge?"

"Lt. Sulu," McCoy said passing out from complete exhaustion.

Xander looked around against and then sat at the doctor's console.

He immediately thought of something. He typed in a couple of searches and found that the replicators in the medical unit could replicate human blood. He programmed a couple of pints to be produced and then fed them to Spike as the vampire couldn't put down the children. They immediately became agitated if they weren't in contact with the only person onboard the ship that could adequately shield their mind.

"Bloody little nuisances," Spike said, but didn't mean it. He was always a softy for the young, but not in the '_I__'__m-a-vampire-and-they-look-delicious_' kind of way either.

"So how long have you been back," Xander asked wondering about the vampire that was supposed to have been a Champion at rest. "Did anyone know?"

"Nah," Spike said. "The ex-Watcher, whot's 'is name, Wesley...he might have contacted the council when I appeared in batvamp's office, but nothing came of it, 'm guessing."

Xander sighed and then looked around for a place to clean up. He made sure that the items that Dr. McCoy had been using to feed the children were clean and ready for use when kids woke up. He also double checked for diapers, just in case.

"Whot about you?" Spike said looking at the one-eyed man that seemed to going through a lot of the cupboards and fiddling with the electronics that could only have come from some dream fantasy from the boy's teenager times. "Whot have you been doin' for the Council?"

"I was hunting a mid-sized nest of '_Rrr !__Tiks !__Raz_'," Xander said, naming the demon with the correct clicks of his tongue. "It was supposed to be an ideal training test for the girls, but something went wrong with the spell that one of the girls' was using and we had to fight four Andronacks too. I was on a down swing at one of them when I was flashed away, but I had enough time to see that all of the demons had been taken care of. So how did I get here?"

"Double U - word," Spike said.

Xander's eye widened. That was a horrible word to use in the presence of demons, but this was the Enterprise. The world of Star Trek should never have to worry about the W-word. "Something's wrong if the Double U - word is working in this Universe, Dimension or whatever."

One of the little ones looked over at the human that was speaking and blinked. Spock was curious about the eye-patch and waved one of his bundled arms in the direction of the talking man.

"Oh wow," Xander said walking up to the tiny Vulcan. "Geez, he must be sweltering in there. Come here little guy let's get you fed and dressed right."

(...This human smells interesting...) Spock thought to his Captain, looking at the blue eyes looking back at him. (...He's not projecting much. I can only read happiness at being here and excitement for some reason...)

Spike followed Xander into the Doctor's quarters that were linked to the Medical Bay for ease of access. It was an anomaly in itself, but the changes on this Enterprise were different from the first run of the show. The vampire was only comfortable following the human because the human was comfortable with the environment.

Xander found the bathing room and shook his head. There were two small basins that had been brought in, but never used. "Let's give them real baths and then we can figure out how we got here."

"I called for you," Spike with a little flush. "Used the bloody word too, din't I."

Xander laughed and said, "I kind of figured that one out. There's no way that anyone from this place could actively call me here. What do you think brought you here?"

"Don't rightly know, but I showed up all '_grr_' like 'Bit says," Spike said. "I'd just walked into the door jam at Wolfram & Hart, vamped from the unexpectedness of it and then flash I'm here."

"How could you walk into a door jam," Xander asked looking at him incredulously. "You're one of the more graceful vampires I know?" He paused and said, "Demon not vampire. Someone asked for a demon for some reason then, that could only explain why you arrived the way you did."

Spike placed an utterly naked baby Kirk into slightly warm bath with bubbles. "Probably," he agreed. "Was a ghost for the past few months, so I could walk through walls and floors, but was limited to L.A."

Xander did the same with an utterly baffled Spock, who still couldn't get a read on the human other than gentle caring, for which he was eternally grateful. The water of his basin was much warmer to his sensitive skin and he sighed when he felt the heat.

(...What are vampires?...) Spock said looking at Kirk getting washed by gentle hands of a blonde young man who apparently fit the definition of '_Demon_' from Doctor McCoy's wish. His Captain was revelling in the feeling of finally being clean. The Vulcan could only feel the same sort of relief as he was finally getting a wash that took away the griminess he felt from the past three days. The diaper thing had been horrible to think about needing, but thankfully the Doctor had known what he was doing in that respect.

(...It's a mythological creature_..._) Kirk said with. (...It's actually a creature of Human imagination from the past. A creature that only lives at night, drinks human blood and can be destroyed with the coming dawn, holy church relics from Earth and possibly a few other things too. There have been many stories about vampires and they take on many biological forms or configurations. However it is commonly believed that it was a medical issue that the primitives of Earth had no knowledge about that originated the tales of nightly blood drinkers...)

(...Fascinating...) Spock thought. (...Are there records?...)

(...I'm sure that some of the old literatures are still available for the PADD...) Kirk said as he was being dried, diapered and dressed in a cute little Starfleet outfit with baby feet to cover the child's toes and keep them warm.

'_He__'__s __not __getting __any __hard __soled __booties,_' Spike thought, having seen many sit-coms of men having their jewels crushed by enthusiastic baby stomping.

Spock was getting the same treatment from the one-eyed man and suddenly he was curious again. (...Does he need such a peripherally limiting device?...)

The baby alien pointed at the eye-patch and said, "Ah!"

Xander was dressing the little Vulcan. When the tyke made a questioning noise and pointed at his eye-patch, his dark eye narrowed and then flashed a little green. He looked up and shook his head. "Only Vengeance...," he looked back down and then pointed to his eye-patch, saying, "What... this?"

"Ah," Spock said pointing at it again, hoping that this human would understand that he was truly asking a question.

"Oh, it's truly a need thing. It keeps the empty socket clean and clear of any flying debris or dust. I need it because it also depends on where I happen to end up when I travel. You're older than you physically seem, correct?"

Spock's eyes widened in shock at the explanation that he was receiving, but he only nodded his head, movements like that he had firmly under control. He had more questions, questions that made him a great Science Officer, but since he couldn't vocalize them he pouted.

"Look we'll figure this out once the good Doctor's up from his very much needed nap," Xander said finishing the dressing of the little Vulcan in baby Starfleet footie suit too. Only this one was three times warmer than the one that Kirk had been placed in. "How about something to eat... if I can figure out how to actually use the replicator here for food..."

"'M sorry Harris," Spike said as Xander fiddled with the touch screen of the food replicator.

"What for," Xander said. "I think this is kinda cool. It's kind of like a vacation at a Trekkie Con. Andrew will totally be jealous about this."

"Whot if we can't get back," Spike voiced his concern.

"Then we'll '_Boldly __Go __Where __No __Hellmouth __Scooby __Has __Gone __Before_,'" Xander said quoting part of a conversation they had just before taking down the First (...i...). "I think we'll be able to get some goodies from the Head Honcho, but first we need to figure out just what is going on before calling who we both know," he looked at Spike, who only nodded. "We'll have call."

Baby plates were available in the replicator so Xander made sure that one was completely vegetarian for the little Vulcan. He also made sure that there were two small half bottles of formula just in case the mashed food was really bad and the little ones didn't care for them.

"So why'd you explain your missing eye to the kid," Spike said watching Xander juggle the child and food for the two of them.

"He wanted to know," Xander said. The vampire was surprised when the tiny dark head looked at him and nodded. "They can't speak, but I suspect that they're both only de-aged in body, not mind, right Captain?"

The blonde, blue-eyed tyke was wide-eyed when he nodded. (...How does he know who's who?...)

(...He's uncommonly insightful...) Spock told his Captain. (...He did mention Dimensions and Alternate Universes, which is what woke me from our nap. Those concepts are not unknown to us. Perhaps they know something of us because they're from someplace else...) His mental conversation was halted when he was presented with a spoonful of mash. Even as a tiny little baby, he was able to quirk his eyebrow in the form of a traditional Spock question.

"It's just mashed veggies," Xander said. "In fact it's from your personal Vulcan selections, only presented in a mash format so you can gum on it. There's more wheat and oat grains added to it because your body needs it now, but it should be nothing that your body hasn't had before."

(...At least it's not the milk and mash that the Bones had been trying to feed you...) Kirk said to him. (...I bet he didn't even realize that he'd be trying to feed you meat...)

(...I know that he wasn't thinking about that, the Doctor was only thinking about the ease of feeding the two of us...) Spock said. He took the small mouthful and thoughtfully mashed it in his mouth. (...This is better...)

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" A voice said from the doorway to the Medical Bay. The Doctor looked rumpled from his impromptu nap on one of the bio-beds. He watched as the baby Vulcan ate what was given to him by the one-eyed man.

"Feeding him," Xander said. "He was very hungry."

"He reacted badly to what I had been giving him," the Doctor said.

"That's because you were probably feeding the both of them the same thing," Spike said spooning up different coloured mash for the baby Captain. Xander looked at the vampire. "After living with you, I know that Vulcans are vegetarians."

The Doctor had the sense to look sheepish and said, "Damn I'd forgotten about that."

"I guess that's understandable," Xander said. "Why don't you go shower and change? Then you can take us to the Bridge to see what's going on outside this ship."

"How do you..." The man stopped and then said, "You know what? Never mind that. I'll take your advice and we can discuss just what it is you think you can do here." He left the room.

Xander looked at Spike with a positively toothy grin. "I think we can do a lot," he said. He toned his grin down a bit when the vampire had a strangely shocked expression on his face. "First we'll need to plan for a few eventualities in relation to the two of us."

"Ah," Spock voiced.

"Well I guess the four of us can come up with something," Spike said when the Captain had made his own noise about being included in the decision making.

"I think that first we'll have to tell them a bit about our background and history," Xander said. He received a nod from two baby heads.

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

**TBC...**

(...i...) Quote is made up. All I can say about that is 'It could've happened'.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer,****warning,****author****'****s****note,****etc...:** See chapter one for all. Also review author's profile for preferred story pairings and writing style. From here on this will not be repeated.

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

**CH****2**

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

(_Meanwhile __back __at __the __Ranch... um... Council __Headquarters._)

"What do you mean you can't find him," Willow screeched at the video conference screen set up in one of the Council's Boardrooms.

"Like I said," Sundra, one of the African Slayers, replied. "We were fighting the Andronaks and then in the middle of the battle a flash of light happened. It took him away. We can't be any more, clear than that."

"It's your fault Circe," Willow said pointing at one of the girls on the screen. "You shouldn't have done that spell."

"It wasn't my spell that did that," the young witch said defending her abilities and crossing her arms. "My spell burned the nest of those flesh eating '_Grr..._' beetles. That is all."

"Why are you so bent out of shape about this anyway?" Dawn asked. "It's not the first time that Xander was pulled away from an area by magic or by some higher power." She paused and then looked at the red-heads worried expression. "Have you been magically tracking him again? You know he hates it when you do that."

"It's for his own good," Willow said waving her hand. "Now look what happened. He's not even being located in any of the known dimensions we associate with."

"Willow Rosenberg," Giles said forcefully. "Have you been the one responsible for draining the arcane resources we share?"

"I needed to find him," she huffed, crossing her arms.

"And just how did you manage to get authorization for their use," Giles said.

"I might have..." she began, but then stopped as everyone stared at her with a mixture of disappointment and glares.

"You...you..." Giles was furious. "How dare you drain our limited resources for an expanded magical search without waiting to see if Xander would or could contact us? He's always done so before now. What on Earth makes you believe..."

"He's not on Earth," Willow shouted. "He's not here, he's not on Earth and he nowhere in the known Dimensions that we commonly deal with. I need to find him because he belongs here with me."

A slap was heard around the boardroom and the girls watching from the screen all whistled and yelled their approval. Their Watcher had been so tired and lonely, but could never retire because of her. He couldn't even maintain a normal or irregular relationship because of her and the magic she uses around him. The last time that he had visited the Council Headquarters, he'd been obligated to go through an intensive tribal magical cleansing to wash away the magic links that had been added to him.

"Xander doesn't belong to you," Dawn said. "He doesn't belong with you and I sincerely hope to any of the good Gods out there that he is in a place where his skills are needed and appreciated. I also hope that he'll connect or contact us, if he can. But my only hope is that he is alive and from what the girls have told us, he is and hadn't even been injured from their last battle. So that is good enough for me."

"He's mine," Willow said holding her reddening cheek. "He's always been mine."

Giles sighed and knew that this was a long time in coming, but he too prayed that wherever Xander was right now, that he would sincerely choose never to come back. He also hoped that the young man had a way of stopping Willow's magically possessive streak.

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

The Powers-That-Be didn't understand such wishes or hopes. They just watched and observed. Some things just had to play out and perhaps the ones choosing to fight on this Earth will choose someplace else to fight.

They were fully prepared to grant a few unconditional demands, but how to pre-determine them, was something that even they couldn't see this time. Some intermediary was going to have to approach them for those kinds of concessions.

Meanwhile they watched another interesting situation happening in another Universe entirely.

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

"Well I'm glad that there's no such thing as elevator music here," Xander said, as he stepped off the turbo-lift and stepped onto the bridge holding the baby Captain of the Enterprise.

Spike had chosen to carry Spock and that was just the cutest thing that Xander had ever seen. The baby Vulcan would point and '_Ah!_' at something and the vampire would explain what he could. Most of it was about the history of his connection with the human and sometimes, like now was the demand to see the vampire's true face.

The vampire walked onto the bridge saying, "Nah, it doesn't 'urt to change like this. To me it's natural as breathing is to you."

Spock was trying to hit the face at a meld point so that their minds could connect, but his Captain spoiled it by being noisy and drawing attention to the attempt. The vampire looked up and shook off his vampire aspect.

"Don't let him touch certain points on your face unless you want him in your mind Spike," Xander said in distracted tone. He was distracted by size of the huge vaporous cloud on the front view screen.

"Little sneak," Spike said with yellow eyes flashing at the tiny Vulcan and a toothy grin. "Your mind ain't ready for what you'd see. Best what til your body can take it, hm?"

"Ah," Spock noised and stuck a couple of fingers in his mouth. There was no logical reason to do this, but for some reason his body felt the need to suck on his fingers.

"Lt. Sulu," Xander said in a tone that brooked no argument. "How many reports of this '_Wishes__Granted_' voice have occurred, which resulted in something happening?"

"How do you know," Sulu asked.

"I'm the one holding onto your Captain that had his body de-aged by an entity that misinterpreted an innocent comment," Xander said.

"Sixty-seven," Sulu said with a sigh. "Luckily no one was harmed by it, but the most extreme occurrence was what happened to the Captain and our First Officer. Who are you?"

"I'm one of those occurrences," Xander said. "But lucky you, I believe that I can actually help. We need to meet and discuss things. An empty cargo bay would be best for a briefing of this nature. I'm going to need a brand new unused PADD with a video capture program in it and a documentation program. Also you might want to check all viewers to make sure that we aren't being slowly pulled into this cloud."

"Cargo bay nine delta twenty-one left," Lt. Sulu said after looking at the ship's manifest and rooms.

"Good we'll need to see only the Command staff there," Xander said. "In twenty minutes." He turned and left the bridge holding Kirk at his shoulder and the baby waving at his staff with a burbling sound like he was ordering them to do it.

Spike did the same with Spock, but kept saying, as he tugged a pale hand away from the side of his face. "You really don't want to do that kid. I don't care how old ya think ya are, my mind is not a place you want to visit at this point in time."

"Ah," Spock noised in pouty tone. He was even physically pouting in such a way that the members of the Bridge staff had to look away in order to maintain their composure. They all wanted to go '_Aw!_' at the baby Vulcan's expression.

However once the doors were closed, there were general exclamations of '_How __Cute..._', and '_Did __you __see..._', also a couple of, '_Yowza_,' and '_Pirates __Ahoy!_', which quickly followed by, "Who were those people?"

Lt. Sulu ordered a view on all ports and blanched as the casual statement that the eye-patch wearing man turned out to be true. He was stunned that they hadn't noticed the infinitesimal pull further into the anomaly. He copied the data to a PADD in order to take that with him for the meeting.

Lt. Uhura could only note that, "Doctor McCoy didn't seem alarmed by them. You need to meet in the cargo bay. I'll notify Lt. Scott to meet them there."

"Chekov, you have the Bridge," Sulu said standing up taking the PADD with him containing new data of their predicament. He stopped by supply to pick up a new PADD as requested and ensured that there was only the minimal amount of programming in it, as requested by the new passenger.

In the cargo area the two young men talked.

"So what do you think," Xander said. "If we have a way home, do you want to go back?"

"Personally," Spike said. "I'm up for more adventuring. Don't matter to me where it happens." He rubbed his head and knew that the dye job would leave him wherever his choices took him. "Gotta leave the nest sometime!"

"Yeah," Xander said. "I'm retiring from the Council no matter what."

"What are you going to do," Spike asked, hoping that the young man would come with him or let a lonely vampire tag along.

"I figured I'd hang out with you," Xander said with his eyes flashing green. "Think on it, maybe we can make our own nest somewhere else." Their conversation halted as the Command staff of the USS Enterprise entered the cargo bay area. "Hey guys," he said to them. "Thanks for coming. Lt. Sulu, what was the verdict?"

"We're in the anomaly," he answered.

Xander nodded and said, "I thought so." He looked at the men and women from the various departments and started to explain a few things, some of which they had to take on faith. "My name is Alexander Harris, call me Xander. I was born on Earth in 1980. This is Spike, a Master Vampire, also known as William the Bloody and he was turned in the late 1900's."

"I was born in 1853," Spike said truthfully. He watched with pleasure at the shock on his old companion's face when he mentioned the truth about his birth year. "I accepted the '_gift_' of eternal night when I was twenty-seven, sometime in the year 1880 and I'm from the same Earth he came from."

"My home town, which no longer exists, was home to a dimensional hell gate, more commonly known as a Hellmouth," Xander said. "There were energies that came from this gate that attracted a lot of creatures, usually of a demonic nature. Most demons that moved into my town or that lived in it wanted to tap those energies and basically use that power to take over the world, think Apocalypse."

"What does that have to do with our predicament here," Lt. Montgomery Scott asked.

"There were a lot of different demonic species in that one town alone," Spike said. "One was called a '_Vengeance __Demon_' from one of the alter-planes of Hell. Don't ask how many there are, the possibilities are limitless and I don't even know about all of them."

"Vengeance Demons have many names, but sometimes in the old literature that I had accessed, they were also more commonly known as '_wish_' demons," Xander said. "They could be the reason behind the old Earth saying, '_Be __careful __what __you __wish __for.._.'. Still these demons have a leader and it's that leader that we are going to call here to help you out with your predicament."

"Why," Doctor McCoy said taking the baby Captain from Xander's arms.

"That thing out there could be one of his," the one-eyed man said.

"One of his... what," Lt. Sulu asked.

"His kids," Xander said. "We might have to do a bit of wheelin' and dealin' here, but the bottom line is that we're either going to have to do something to warn other ships away from this region of space for a few years or destroy it, and I don't think we could even if we wanted to."

"Why not," Scotty asked.

"Everything has a purpose in the grander scheme of things," Spike said. "You don't want to mess around with much of that. So it might be better to prepare some warning buoys prepare. You'll have to program them to always remain out of the reach of the cloud mass though."

"Why," Scotty asked once again.

"We could be heading to the centre of the mass to be devoured," Xander explained. "Or we could just be pushed out the other end and suddenly find ourselves in an entirely new region of space, which at this point in time, I don't believe that any of you would be ready for that."

"This flagship has the best crew in the entire fleet," Lt. Sulu said defending every one of them.

"What of the rest of the fleet," Xander said. "If the flagship finds itself in another region of space, unable to contact anyone in the rest of the fleet or any of the known Federation planets, how will they take your loss?" He shook his head. "The fleet isn't ready to lose you and you shouldn't be so quick to get yourselves into a predicament that could potentially cripple the Federation or Starfleet even further."

"How do you know all of this," Lt. Sulu asked with narrowing eyes.

"We don't," Spike said. "Not really. But we are using what we do know to help you get out of this situation and that means calling forth an entity that has skills and abilities that aren't quantifiable or measureable by any of your scientific standards. Demons are real folks and you'd best be ready for what you're about to see."

"Well we are scientists," Doctor McCoy said. "What readings we can take, we will and we'll need this information for when we write our reports to for Starfleet records."

"Understandable," Xander said. "Do you have that new PADD for me?"

"Yes," Lt. Sulu said. "What are you going to do with it?"

"Get some of the essential stuff that I'll need for my future travels," Xander said. "No matter where I'm headed, please give us a few minutes to do this before we call on the Vengeance Boss."

Spike handed the baby Spock to Commander Scott and stepped away to speak with Xander. Spike did the typing up because of his speed and the fact that they didn't want this to take too long.

Together they made a list of essential items that they needed from home. They also gave their notices of retirement from the Champion gig, but they made sure that the background behind them was blank grey wall. They didn't want anyone guessing their location.

Soon they were back with the group of Officers. "We're ready," Xander said. He shook his head when someone wanted to hand him the Captain. "I can't just in case we get whisked away."

"Ah," Spock said, waving his hand. He wanted the man to come closer. He needed to meld with one of them.

"Sorry Spock," Xander said with an insight of what the baby Vulcan wanted. "We need to do this first. We need to know if the two of us can actually go home or if we're going to be stuck with you guys for a while."

Spock pouted that his request was thwarted.

(...It's logical Spock...) The baby Kirk projected into his mind. (...If he was holding one of us and was suddenly removed, how do you know that we wouldn't have been taken away with them? The Enterprise needs us...)

(...I cannot logically explain my biological needs at this point in time Jim...) Spock confessed. (...Something is compelling me to want a connection with either of these men and I do not know why...)

(...Spock...) Jim said looking at the little Vulcan. (...You're a Vulcan, whose body is in need of a parental connection. Your father is not here and your mother...)

(...Died on Vulcan...) Spock's were wide with the thought. (...You're assessment is logical, but my fear...)

(...Is natural...) Jim told him. (...I have the same needs, although not the mind thing, but still the same needs and those two were the most serene of everyone that has held us since this has occurred to us. Let them do what they must. You never know, we might be able to get changed back into our adult bodies sooner than expected and your needs my dissolve after that...)

(... Logical...) Spock said with drool falling down his chin. (...I am looking forward to that...) He paused and then asked the other baby with the hopes that he'd know. (...Why am I drooling?...)

(...You're probably teething...) Kirk said. (...Babies drool a lot when that happens. They also stick their fingers or thumbs in their mouths because if you're only teething on one section of your mouth the other might be irritated...)

(...Oh...) Spock said looking away from his baby compatriot. He turned his attention back to the adult bodies in the room and noticed that Xander and Spike were having a heated discussion which caused the vampire to change his appearance.

"You need to protect them," Spike said.

"We'll get more out of him, if we do this my way," Xander said. He took hold of the vampire's face, teeth and all and leaned in. His eye changed to a green colour, his voice deepened and he growled out. "You've trusted my plans before. Trust that I know this is the right thing to do."

The vampire rumbled, remembering a time when the eyes of his roommate had changed this colour before. The determination and conviction was not something he could deny, ever. He had tried and it had gotten him bitten, in a fun way, but still bitten and submitting.

Spike sighed and let his demon go. "Alright," he said. "I do trust you."

Xander's grin grew big and toothy. "Thank you," he said. "We have a few other things to discuss too."

"Later pet," Spike said, stepping back to let the near-human be the one to call on the demon that would have once been his Father-In-Law, if that infamous wedding had ever taken place.

"D'Hoffryn," Xander shouted out. "I call on you to appear before me, now. Come on you old goat I know you can hear me, no matter I'm at."

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

**TBC...**


	3. Chapter 3

**CH 3**

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

The Officers of the Enterprise were notably startled by the flash of fire that formed in a circle. From that circle out stepped a creature that had the classic demonic features of hooves and horns, but was dressed in non-descript robes of brown cloth. They were startled by the fact that this fearsome looking creature was carrying a book and wearing glasses.

The demon looked up from the passage he'd been reading and then focussed on the one that summoned him. His eyes narrowed, but there was no denying that he had some kind of connection with the human before him, even if his beautiful and deadly Anyanka had perished.

"Alexander," the demon said raising an eyebrow. He frowned as he sensed that this was not a place or even Universe that he'd normally have been called to.

"Outside of this ship," Xander said.

The demon eyes widened as he took in the uniforms of the majority of the humans in the cargo bay. He quickly looked around, focussing on the two babies and then he closed his eyes. The magic was unmistakably vengeance in origin, but he did a quick count of all his known children. Then he did as his summoner asked and that's when his eyes opened up looking startled at the revelation.

"Oh my," he said. He looked at Xander and at the vampire at his side. He then reflected on his abilities and shook his head. "I cannot return you..."

"Yeah," Xander said. "We kind of figured that something like that would happen."

"I could take you to another dimension, but not to your home, it's too far away," the demon said.

Xander looked at Spike and the vampire nodded, holding up his fingers in a **V** to indicate that he would accept the second option that they had discussed. The human grinned, took hold of the vampire, hugged him hard and kissed him on the mouth with a happy expression.

"Thank you Spike," he said and then turned to the demon who was watching this with an amused expression. "Would be willing to act as a courier for us?"

D'Hoffryn quirked up an eyebrow and then looking outside the ship again with his mind he nodded. "I'll do what I can."

"Great," Xander said holding out the PADD that he and Spike had filled with a video of their resignation, including a copy in document form. "Could you please bring this to Rupert Giles of the Watcher's Council in our originating Universe and bring back what they give you for us?"

The demon took the device and for once he wasn't going to do anything other than what was requested of him because outside of the ship was indeed one of his children. It was one of his '_lost_' children and it was so rare for one to be found in such a strange way.

"I will do as you ask, but I do hope that the two are aware that you've been in the books of the upper echelons as Champions," D'Hoffryn said. "How do you think they will react to this?"

"They'll need to let us go because we've definitely earned the right to the rest of our future," Xander said. "There are two additional documents in there addressed to you. We've added them in case we were going to be stuck in this Universe, which is like the best thing ever, but they were in case..." He shrugged and then continued. "They're for the Powers-That-Be, if they ever feel the need to be grateful for the help we've done or just bribe us to stay away, those are a few suggestions for them."

D'Hoffryn snorted, but just bowed and said, "Give me seven days. Don't worry, I've stopped the forward motion of the ship." He disappeared in a flash of flames that didn't activate the fire suppression system in the cargo area.

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

Giles was sitting at his desk contemplating what to do about Willow. That young Witch was bound and determined to get '_Her __Xander_' back no matter the consequences. He sighed looking over the personnel file he had on the young man. '_Since __when __do __I __keep __files __on __any __of __them,_' he thought. '_This __is __getting __ridiculous._'

It was when he was reading over the last report about the tribal cleansing that he became aware that he had a visitor. D'Hoffryn had chosen to show up in human form with a briefcase and an official appointment. However his true nature could never be hidden by one of Rupert Giles' magical calibre.

"I'm here to deliver a device to you on behalf of your lost sheep," the demon said with much pre-amble. "I'll be back in four days to collect whatever you've been able to gather for him."

"Is he safe," Giles asked. "Injured?"

"Yes and no," D'Hoffryn said putting the device on the man's desk. "I'm doing this because I owe him a big one."

Giles sighed in relief. He looked at the data device and was disconcerted to note that he'd need Andrew's help with it. He never liked any computer type item. "Do you know the contents?"

"I've pulled a couple of files," D'Hoffryn said. "They were addressed to some others, but the main files and the video are real. Please do not suspect that their origins are false. I do not have the knowledge for manipulating such devices."

"It's odd to hear one like you confess to such a weakness," Giles observed.

The demon shrugged and said, "You do know that it's always one or the other for the magically inclined. Those that mix both must be monitored for instability and eventually they must choose their strength or else fall into some form of hubris."

This was said with a meaningful look as the demon rose to leave. "I'll be back in four days to collect the boys' requests," D'Hoffryn said. "They must be ready by then."

Giles nodded and immediately picked up the phone to call in Andrew, who'll undoubtedly be able to extract the data and set up the video. The aging Watcher thought, '_I __dislike __video __conferences, __but __the __girls __in __Africa __need __to __know __what __happened __to __their __beloved __Watcher._'

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

Two days later, after the video conference had taken place, Willow was drugged and confined to a white room, secured and padded as she continued to rant about Xander being gone just like Jesse. Xander not being there and never coming back was her final breaking point.

Giles had Dawn look up the instances of technology versus witchcraft or magics and most that dabbled in both did indeed choose one over the other over time. This needed to be done before they had their meeting to view Xander and Spike's video.

A bit of research showed the consequences of continued meddling in both fields of knowledge. In the end there was only one option for the Coven in Devon, a few of the more experienced and powerful spell casters and for the Council to take in regards on one Willow Rosenberg.

She was stripped of all her magical links and bound by the wills of the spell that they had chosen. Perhaps one day she'll recover and lead a normal life, but they had to severely alter her memory to get her to forget the abilities that she once had in relation to magic.

They even took all memories related to the Watcher's Council, Slayers and everyone she knew when she had been living in Sunnydale. Her only clear memories were the fact that she'd lost her two best friends while she'd been living in Sunnydale. The doctors of the Asylum that she was placed in had their orders. They were used to this kind of confinement and Willow would be well treated there for the remainder of her life.

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

**FLASHBACK**

The meeting that was taking place was pretty similar to what had taken place when the group had discovered that one of their Watchers had been taken while in the middle of a battle. This time they were about to find out what happened and when their Watcher would be coming home, if he would be coming home.

Andrew had extracted the documents and sent copies to everyone that needed to gather the necessary items from Xander's request for '_his __stuff_'. He took it upon himself to contact Wesley Wyndym-Pryce at Wolfram & Hart in order to get the stuff that Spike was asking for because some of it wasn't available to the essentially '_good_' side of things. Wesley was deemed neutral enough to be able to obtain these particular things.

"All right," Andrew said, splitting the screen in such a way that the Slayers in Africa were visible in a corner of the monitor and that Xander's video message would occupy the rest. The girls were seeing the boardroom with the others in the same fashion. "Let's do this."

There on the screen was Xander. He was dressed pretty much the same way had been dressed on the day of the battle. There were still stains of demon blood on his clothing, but he didn't look unhappy or as if he was being coerced into making this video for the Council.

"Hi guys," he said with his bright brown eye crinkling. Giles noted the age lines on the young man and felt his own age after seeing the signs that time was taking them all. "First I need you all to know that I'm doing quite well. I didn't take any damage from the battle and that the reason I'm where I am now is because of the Double-U word. Ah," he held up his hand to stall any protestations. It was like they were getting a live video feed, but he slashed their hopes. "Don't bother to interrupt or protest because this is just a video recording... of course you can always pause this, but time is a factor."

The girls and the Watchers in the room, which included the ex-Watcher Wesley Wyndym-Pryce, who'd just hopped onto one of the corporate jets to deliver the items that Spike had requested. He didn't mention this trip to anyone, not even Gunn who was one of his closest friends.

"Let me just say that it has been my honour and privilege to work on the side '_of __the __good_', with each and every one of you," he said, looking around an imaginary room. They knew he was picturing everyone as being there.

Buffy wasn't because she couldn't be pulled away from the current love of her life. She had officially moved on and was living her dream life of being a '_Buyer_' (...i...) of things. Her current lover supported her completely and she was no longer called on to do the Slaying thing. The Council had her on record as being '_Retired_' and every member of the separated Scooby gang of Sunnydale already knew it. There would be no message for Buffy on this machine.

"Unfortunately, it doesn't look like I'll be able to get back to Earth ever again. I'm just too far away. So, this video and the documents included on the device you're using contain my immediate Retirement request from the Watcher's Council. I know there's no choice here, but I've always wanted to say that I'm retired because it's my turn to Retire." It was obvious that his thoughts had turned to the feisty Slayer that opened up the world for him. "There are letters for all of you among my belongings and a few have been added to this device for distribution."

"I'm in need of a few things for where I am because I'd really like to be able to change into something comfortable, so my little Circe, please send a large bundle of you-know-whats to the Council HQ using the hoodoo that you do so well. Take care of the spell-work for them, learn your protection circles and don't forget that potions may taste bad, but they do work."

The girls grinned when he said that and made his funny '_Yuck_' face. He was one of the worst fighters for potion taking that there ever was, but they couldn't deny that he took them despite his loud protests or that they did work.

"Sundra, my tall gorgeous one, take care of the others and remember what I told you. Fight for your friends and family and you'll get to live a longer life and for Pete's sake stay away from !Okan," the name was said with a click of the tongue before the rest of the word. "He's not good enough for you my girl. However that being said, I have never made that kind of relationship decision for any of my girls and the choice will always be yours. However you be sure that he treats you right, if he is your choice or I will find a way to get his ass kicked."

The tall African Slayer wiped tears from her eyes. She knew that the man in question was no good, but to know that her Watcher knew her feelings and that she might still choose the man for life it was a relief. It should that he cared.

"My little ones, look to your elders and never be afraid to learn new things," he said to the two youngest and newest Slayers in Africa. They had only known him for a month before he was taken from them. "Study the books and lore, and listen to the stories that the tale-tellers bring to the villages. That's how you'll discover which stupid stunt will and will not work and for all that's '_Good_' pick a primary weapon and learn everything about it."

They all had tears in their eyes and listened on as he told Giles how he loved him as a father. He talked to Dawn and Andrew, telling them to do the learning stuff to help out Giles and to never forget the love of the Scoobies.

He spoke at length to Willow, thanking her for her eternal friendship and for letting him go. It was at this point that she broke-down completely and cracked the monitor with the book she had been carrying. It took three slayers to quickly hold her down and it took Giles an hour to contain the emanating magic from the girl.

Hours later, they made their plans and chose to drain her magic, confine her to an Asylum and alter her memories because she couldn't handle the fact that Xander was never coming back.

However, before those plans were fully carried out they listened to the rest of Xander's message and to the brief one from Spike, who'd they'd all been surprised to see.

Dawn had squealed and said, "I knew they'd end up together." Giles raised one eyebrow at her. "Oh come on," she explained. "They were constantly orbiting around each other and if no one had ever interfered with Xander, he'd have been with Spike or even someone else by now. He's not made to be alone and neither is Spike."

The others had agreed eventually, after many facts had been presented. They discussed his requests at length and eventually agreed to send him, his own version of a '_Tickle __Trunk_' (...ii...). It was one of the massive trunks that he had created in wood, over time. Every Slayer that had ever been found or worked with him had some form of one, including the witches.

The one they were sending him would contain magic to store more than it would seem to carry. They had discussed the kind of the trunks that were found in the Harry Potter books, but it was deemed impractical for the tools and weapons that they were planning to send him.

In the end they prepared a one level trunk that contained a list of contents located in a secret compartment in the lid. They added a copy of the list on the device that Xander had sent to them. Spike's items were added to the trunk for ease of transport and to hopefully ensure that both displaced Scoobies would get them.

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

**FLASHFORWARD**

D'Hoffryn appeared in the alcove belonging to one section of those known as '_the __Powers-That-Be_'. The unborn twins watched with blank eyes as the Leader of the Vengeance Demons approached. He was dressed in his demonic regalia, not to show his strength, but to show respect to these creepy beings that watched and chose Champions from the vast collection of souls that lived in various planes, universes and dimensions.

"He comes prepared brother," the female said.

"Hm," the other said. "What does this one want from us?"

"Two of yours have found one of mine," D'Hoffryn said. He smirked when he noticed their eyebrows rise up in an expression of surprise. It was rare that they ever felt any type of emotion and even rarer for them to be completely surprised that it would show on their normally placid, non-judging faces. "I'm their intermediary and they had requests to the Powers-That-Be."

"Interesting," the female said looking into the pool that provided them with a view of the ones they kept their eyes on. The view flashed to the inside of a Starship that contained a one-eyed human and a vampire taking care of two little babies.

"We cannot see outside the ship," the male confessed. "We can only focus on the Champions." They looked at one another and then looked at the Demon Lord. "What are their requests?"

"I have not read them," D'Hoffryn said. "They are here," he pulled out two envelopes and handed one to each of the Powers. "One of the other Champions pulled the information from a device and sealed them without looking at either message."

"Interesting," the female said. She'd never received something that could be deemed correspondence or a written letter. Her brother was in the same predicament. She handed hers to the Demon Lord and said, "Read it."

"Of course," D'Hoffryn said. He opened it up and read the note.

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

_Powers-That-Be,_

_I, Alexander Lavelle Harris, have served the side of good for many years. I have sacrificed my eye to the cause and will always fight on the side of right. Yet I'm alone and lonely. I have no need of toys, trinkets, baubles or anything. _

_What I want is Spike. I want him to remain with me by his choice. I do not want him tortured, used or called upon by you ever again, not that you'd call on him anyway, but he's earned his peace from the involuntary Champion business that he suddenly found himself dragged into by a Military microchip._

_I make this one small request, call it a favour, call it a bribe to keep him away from your other Champions or just call it a payment for my eye that you took. _

_I want immunity for him. I want Spike, the Master Vampire also known as William the Bloody and one of the infamous Scourge of Europe vampires to be immune to Sunlight, immune to Holy Relics of any kind that will damage him or the demon in him and immunity to include the prevention of being turned to dust by stakage, just like he had with the Gem of Amara, only without the condition of a temporary trinket and unreliable trinket._

_Let us go, please._

_Respectfully,_

_Xander, born as Alexander Lavelle Harris, named the Slayer's Heart, called the White Knight by Angelus one of the Scourge of Europe, titled as 'One Who Sees' by Caleb evil preacher-man of the First Evil._

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

D'Hoffryn snorted, but nodded his head. The boy was right. He was called all of those things and more. "He forgot a few, but he'd right," the demon said with the brother and sister looking at him. "Those are the main names he's known by in some circles of Hell."

"We know," the brother said. "Read the other note."

The Demon Lord nodded and began.

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

_Wankers-That-Be, _

(That had both the brother and sister Powers slightly amused because they fully knew how this vampire felt about them. It was strange to receive any kind of nick-name even if it was derogatory, but they had always enjoyed the way he expressed himself.)

_I, William Ravenhill (...iii...), known as William the Bloody, known as Spike the Slayer of Slayers and Master Vampire, know that I never once sought redemption in the conventional sense. I'm having too much bloody fun to care what you or others think._

_However, I earned my soul and earned my peace by dying to close that bastardized Hellmouth that never should have been. I know that because the knowledge came back with me, when I found myself all ghost-like in the presence of that broody piece of bogtrottin' shite that you've chosen to be a 'Champion'._

_You owe me and I'm collecting. _

'_M tired of being alone and lonely and I want my 'Nummy Treat'. I want him on a level that you unborn fruits could never know. I want him to have an extended life without being turned into a vampire. He'd not be the man he is if he was turned into something like me._

_Find a way or tell me how to go about it because this will be it for the two of us, once I figure out a way to convince him._

_Let us go, please._

_Disrespectfully yours,_

_William Ravenhill, known as William the Bloody Awful Poet, known as William the Bloody one of the four vampires known as the Scourge of Europe, self-named Spike, once chosen Champion of Buffy the Vampire Slayer_

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

D'Hoffryn looked up from his narration to find the two Powers-That-Be, talking lowly to each other. Even with his demonic hearing he didn't catch a single word that was passing between the two of them. Periodically they would glance at the viewing pool and the go back to discussing things.

The Demon Lord through the pool and noted the care that the two took with the babies. Those babies were not really babies and he knew that he'd have to reverse a few of the wishes that had taken place on the ship before it could be pulled out of the maw of his child. He'd taken the time to figure out the time frame for this child and knew that if it could remain where it was, it could have another eighty years of growth without disturbance before it was ready to join the clan in another dimension.

He wondered how that would factor into the decision that these creatures before him would take. A Demon Lord could never overrule or change a decision made by a creature known as a Power.

Their discussion suddenly stopped and they looked at him. "You are going back," the female said. "You have a way."

"I'm connection to the one-eyed man known as Xander," the demon admitted. "One of my daughters was to have married him, but when that didn't happen, she still chose another path and has passed on. Her feelings are marked in my psyche and from time to time I see him."

"That is your way," the brother said. He looked to his sister who nodded. He took to arm bands and placed them on the viewing basin. There was a swirl of blinding magical energy that disappeared as suddenly as it had flared. "Take one these to the one called Spike. Tell him that he may bond the vampire way with the near-human, known as Xander."

"Tell him that the band is a response to his request and must be exchanged with Xander's band at the time of bonding," the female said. "Give the other to the near-human and tell him that the band will honour his request, but only when an exchange is made and a bond is formed."

D'Hoffryn took the bands and tucked them into a silken sack. He bowed, left the empty room and returned to his home plane before he breathed a sigh of relief that they didn't take any action against him.

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

On the seventh day, Xander and Spike were in the same cargo bay that they had used to call forth D'Hoffryn. The other Officers on the ship were busy working in their departments and the babies were with Doctor McCoy. They didn't know when the Demon Lord would show up, but they knew that he would.

A flash of fire didn't startle or impress them. They were too jaded for that. The thunking sound of something large dropping from a low height did what the fire didn't and caused them to jump.

D'Hoffryn watched from the circle and noticed that the others weren't there for this. He sighed, but knew that this was the only time that they could talk freely about whatever other issues they may need to discuss.

"Hello boys," he said stepping out of his circle.

"Hey D," Xander said, shortening the man's name to one letter and causing him to scowl. The vampire snickered when the human corrected himself and said, "D'Hoffryn."

"Better," the demon said. "That trunk is your reply from your friends and this," he took out the silk bag holding the items from the Powers-That-Be. He was going to be glad to get rid of them because the power emanating from it made his skin crawl. "Their answers to your letters were similar," he said. "The bands in their will honour your requests, but only when a bond is formed between the two of you. They said that the bond can be a vampire one in answer to your request Spike."

"Thanks," Spike said taking the bag and tucking it away in one of the duster's deep pockets. The two of them had had seven days to talk, discuss and plan among other things. They didn't feel the need to rush, but there was a kind of impatience building up between the two of them that could only be dealt with by being bonded to one another.

"Here is the device," the demon said. "I will pull the ship far enough away that it will be out of the gravitational pull of the maw. However he needs another eighty years of peace to grow into his next stage, will the crew allow that?"

"They are prepared to set up space buoys that will automatically stay out of the gravitational pull," Xander said. "With their records and their curiosity, they might plan to come in a few years time, maybe a decade or two in order to measure the growth, but..."

"I think I'd like that," D'Hoffryn said. "It'll let me know when to come and get him, however you should tell your curiosity seekers that the birthing of this thing, in about eighty years, leaves behind something they call a '_Black __Hole_'. I don't recommend that they be in the vicinity when that happens."

"What about the wishes he granted," Xander said. "Are there limits or conditions before things get back to normal?"

"Most have already gone away or been destroyed," D'Hoffryn said with closed eyes and looking at the magic that was used. "The Captain and his First Officer will grow up to their age once they are far enough away from the immature form out there. However the ship will have to do that under its own power after the crew has deployed the buoys."

"Understandable," Xander said. "Thank you."

"Nonsense," D'Hoffryn said. "I'm only doing this for two reasons." The human and vampire waited. "My Anyanka loved you and you found my son. Understand that you two have chosen this and that that box is the last connection either of you have with your old life."

Spike picked up the box with both hands and lugged it onto one shoulder. He said, as he left the cargo bay to store it in their combined quarters, "Cheers mate."

"What he said," Xander told the Vengeance Demon Lord. "I loved Anya, but I knew and so did she that we were..."

"I've gotten over that years ago," D'Hoffryn said. "Will you accept something from me?"

"Of course," Xander said without thought to what it could possibly be.

The Demon Lord of Vengeance gained an internal grin of evil. He was all about vengeance, only this one was just a little thing, really... He held out a box wrapped in plain brown paper and flashed out of the cargo bay. He did as he said he would and pulled the ship away from the gravitational pull of the anomaly outside their view screens.

Xander used the turbo-lift to the bridge to make the announcement. "Hey guys," he said. "Check it out we're away from the pull. We need to place the buoys now and make sure that in about eighty years time that there is nobody in proximity to that thing."

"What about the Keptin and Meister Spock," the young Lt. Chekov asked.

"They'll age the further away we get from that," Xander said pointing his wrapped box at the cloudy mass in front of them. "Lt. Sulu it's in your hands again."

"Where will you be," the man asked. "I'm going to see the gifts I got from my family and friends. Spike and I will be staying with you guys for a while, just letting you know." He told the bridge crew as the lift doors closed.

"It vill be interesting," Chekov said.

"Lt. Scott," Sulu called down to the transporter room. "Are the buoys ready for placement?"

"Yes Lieutenant," Scotty said.

"On your mark Lt. Scott," Sulu said.

"Yes sir," Scotty said. He pushed a few buttons and slid the touch pad lever up in order to activate the transporter beam. "Activating the transporter now," he said, notifying the bridge. The devices had been sitting in another cargo bay were launched and as soon as they were free of the ships confines, Lt. Chekov activated them.

The bridge crew watch as the buoys scattered to broadcast a caution signal in several of the Federation languages and a few that had yet to be added to the charter. The science station of the bridge confirmed that the signals were strong and that additional data was being gathered regarding the current size of the mass. It was all that they could do about that for now.

"Helm, plot the coordinates for the nearest Starbase," Lt. Sulu said. "I believe we are overdue for a face-to-face briefing with the Admiralty. Hopefully we'll be far enough away for the senior officers to grow up for this meeting."

Chekov snickered and the others on the bridge grinned. They could only imagine the Captain and First Officer Spock showing up for a meeting looking like teenaged cadets, younger than the youngest of the USS Enterprise's member.

USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE - USS ENTERPRISE

**THE END**

(...i...) "You know a Buyer...Buying... To Buy," Buffy says to Merrick when they were discussing their future and drinking some tea. - comes from the movie of "Buffy the Vampire".

(...ii...) Tickle Trunk - comes from the children's T.V. show called Mr. Dress-Up, whose trunk seemed as bottomless and the infamous '_Carpet__Bag_' that Mary Poppins carried.

(...iii...) Ravenhill - I like that as Spike's last name better than Pratt, so that's what it is for this story.


End file.
